Crewe Turned Down by Target

An out-of-contract centre back has rejected the chance of a move to Crewe. The players' identity remains unrevealed, but it is certain that the player in question was either Lincoln's Gareth MacAuley or Port Vale's George Pilkington. Both central defenders are out of contract this summer and have been linked with moves to Championship clubs.

Dario revealed, 'We made a move to try to sign a centre-half, but I was turned down by the player who is now going to a much bigger club, or at least he thinks he is.' With Madjid Bougherra, Adie Moses and Richard Walker definitely leaving the club, and Steve Foster likely to follow suit, Dario admits 'we could sign two or even three [centre backs] if necessary'. We'll definitely need two centre-halves as at the moment we're short there and Chris McCready hasn't signed his contract offer yet.'

Meanwhile, Dario has also revealed his interested in a young-centre back, 'I'm also interested in a young centre-half who I just came across by chance. We might follow that up but he won't go straight into the team.' The identity of the player is unknown, though as previously revealed on Vital Crewe (Crewe Chase Non-League Defender), Chasetown's Chris Slater could well be the young centre-back in question.

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